Jury in Barton trial hears testimony of fellow trucker, 911 recording

Warning: this story contains details some readers may find disturbing.

Bradley Barton's retrial on a charge of manslaughter continued on its fifth day Friday with testimony from a fellow trucker who was working on a job with Barton in June 2011.

Barton, a 52-year-old long-distance mover, is accused of causing the death of Cindy Gladue, a Cree and Métis mother. Police found Gladue's body covered in blood in the bathtub of Barton's suite at the Yellowhead Inn on June 22, 2011.

Crown and defence agree Gladue, 36, died of blood loss from an 11-centimetre wound to her vaginal wall which was caused by blunt force.

The Crown played surveillance footage from inside the hotel, which showed Barton and Gladue sitting at a table in the hotel bar the night of June 21, 2011.

Kevin Atkins testified Barton told him Gladue was one of the “packers” Barton uses in Edmonton, someone who will pack up goods so they can be loaded onto a truck for moving.

Surveillance footage of the hallway outside of the rooms Barton and Atkins were staying in showed that at 12:42 a.m. the men were returning to their rooms and Gladue was with them.

Later, the jury heard the call to 911 Barton made from his hotel phone. In the call, Barton said he woke up in the morning to a girl in his bathtub covered in blood.

He said he didn't know who the woman was, but that she came to his room at around 10:30 that night and asked to take a shower.

When he was asked by the Edmonton police dispatcher for his home address, Barton said he didn't want his wife to find out.